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Mr. Monk Is Someone Else
Mr. Monk is Someone Else is the fourth episode of the eighth season of Monk. Mr. Monk is recruited by the FBI to go undercover as a contract killer for the Mafia. Plot In what is probably the shortest prologue of any Monk episode (at 37 seconds long), we see (what appears to be) Adrian Monk crossing the street while reading a newspaper and he is suddenly hit by a bus. In San Francisco, Natalie Teeger is crying....over reading Marley and Me. Monk is alive and well.....and unhappy with the fact that a deliveryman insists on tacking a ridiculous surcharge for wheeling in Monk's new refrigerator. Monk doesn't have the spine to refuse the charge. Monk and Natalie are hastily summoned to the police station. They meet with Captain Stottlemeyer, Lieutenant Disher, and FBI Special Agent Stone. He informs them that he is the head of an FBI team that follows high profile targets. He tells them that they have been following a hitman named Frank DePalma for the past few months. DePalma is the man that was killed by the bus in Los Angeles. Agent Stone reveals that they have kept DePalma's accidental death quiet, to the point of falsifying his death certificate with the name "John Doe" so that it will be said that the accident never happened. It turns out that DePalma was one of the mob's most notorious contract killers, and has killed at least 17 people - 10 of them in America, 5 in Europe, and 2 in Asia - but they can't prove a thing. Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer, and Disher look at a photo of DePalma, and they realizes that DePalma is a dead ringer for Monk (except for the plug-ugly expression on his face). Stone reveals that his team wants to recruit Monk, and have him go to Los Angeles to impersonate Frank DePalma. Aghast, Stottlemeyer immediately vetoes the idea, but the Agent cannily appeals to Monk's better nature: he reminds Stottlemeyer that DePalma was brought to L.A. for an assassination, but without Monk's help, the FBI will not be able to find and protect the target, and that person will likely die as soon as the mob recruits another hit man. Monk agrees. They travel to the FBI's Los Angeles field office. Monk hastily commits DePalma's biography to his phenomenal memory (including things like where he was born (Allston, Massachusetts in 1953), his parents (Joseph and Helen, the former of whom was a gambling addict who died when DePalma was 14), his first arrest (October 27, 1997 for assault and battery, for which he did two years in Joliet) and his first contract killing (a real estate billionaire in Key West, Florida named Donnie Hernandez; DePalma blew up his yacht and made it look like a fuel leak)). Stone also gives him a crash course in looking and acting like a tough guy - something that doesn't come naturally to Monk - including swaggering. A short while later, a disguised Randy chauffeurs Monk to the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Monk gets out, and the doorman casually greets him as "Mr. DePalma." Monk gives him an odd look before going to his room. Monk's suit is equipped with a wire so that he can communicate with Natalie, Stottlemeyer, Disher and Agent Stone, who are all in a mobile command unit parked out front. Once Monk gets into "his" hotel room, he starts describing the room... step, by step, by step. He also mistakes the plasma TV for a blackboard. Monk looks inside one of DePalma's suitcases and finds one of DePalma's suppressed pistols stashed inside. Just then, someone knocks at the door. Monk answers to Lola, "his" girlfriend. She comes onto Monk, and when he keeps her at arms’ length, she figures he’s mad at her for Barcelona, not knowing that "DePalma" is actually Monk in disguise. She orders some champagne. When room service comes (compliments of Jimmy Barlowe), Monk almost blows his cover when he refuses to tip the waiter, who reminds Monk that he "tipped" more the day before. Monk reluctantly hands the waiter a $20 bill. Monk tries to bring himself to drink the champagne to keep in character, but he can't, so he claims that he's decided to cut back on drinking. He also asks Lola if she knows what the name of his new target is. She says that she doesn't know, and they’ll both find out that night. When Lola tries to kiss him, Monk backs away, and he claims that he's got a new girlfriend in Los Angeles right now, and he likes to kiss her very frequently. Lola asks Monk for "his" new girlfriend's name, and Monk claims that her name is "Natalie Teegerb" (in the FBI van, everyone casts glance at Natalie as soon as Monk uses her name). Lola tells Monk to bring Natalie with him to a local nightclub that evening where they’ll meet with Jimmy Barlowe, the man who owns the club and who wants to hire Monk. At the club that night, Monk arrives with Natalie (who is wearing a backless dress similar to the one we saw Lola wear). Monk wants the music turned down, but Charlie, the bartender, doesn't turn the noise off until he realizes who Monk (supposedly) is. He then turns off the music and an irritated customer, Jake, comes over to complain. He quickly backs off when Charlie tells him that Monk is "Frank DePalma". Lola comes over, and gives Natalie the once over. Lola takes Monk to a backroom to meet Jimmy Barlowe, his nephew Lenny, and his lieutenant, Tommy G. They make small talk. Tommy notes to Monk that it's been three years since they met in Miami. He asks Monk to help out and provide some information on a family member he killed, but Monk manages to bluff it out and even intimidates Tommy by straightening his tie. Tommy apologizes, and Jimmy finally comes out with his target's name: he wants Monk to go to Ventura and whack a man named Stanley Greenblatt. Unfortunately, things get awkward when Jimmy passes around cigars. Monk manages to bluff his way through again by not lighting his cigar and saying he prefers to smoke them with the tips still on. Lenny, who wants to kill Greenblatt himself, starts to suspect that "DePalma" might not be who he is when Monk starts asking for more information about Greenblatt. Later, Monk, Natalie, Stone, Stottlemeyer, and Disher rendezvous at the FBI headquarters. Stone has dug up Greenblatt's file, but he (a retired UPS driver) has no obvious mob connections to Jimmy Barlowe. Stone asks Monk to keep up the impersonation until they learn something useful and he reluctantly agrees. Stottlemeyer and Disher volunteer to talk to Greenblatt. When they go to his house, Greenblatt claims that he doesn't know Jimmy Barlowe. Greenblatt wants nothing to do with them, and insults them and throws pans at them until they leave. Later that morning, Monk meets with Tommy and Lenny at a beachside cafe and Lenny asks him how he's going to handle the hit. Monk claims he’s taking his time, and Tommy G explains to an ever-so-impatient Lenny that Monk is a methodical man. Their conversation is interrupted when Harold Krenshaw spots Monk and comes over. Harold is on vacation in Los Angeles and is surprised to see Monk out of his house. He refuses to go away and Monk quickly shoves Harold into a nearby tree, and warns him that he's making a very big mistake. Monk warns Harold to go away if he doesn't want to end up in Section D (the Obituary) of tomorrow's paper. After Harold slinks away, Monk snaps at a nearby couple in a very non-Monk kind of way. Back at FBI headquarters, Stottlemeyer warns that Monk is too much into the role and Stone is ready to pull the plug. By this point, Monk is playing the role of Frank DePalma to the hilt (even demanding warm iced tea). He refuses to back down and insists that he has to go through with the impersonation to find out why the mob is targeting Stanley Greenblatt. Natalie thinks that Monk has finally found an outlet for years of repression but Monk says he’s in control. When he tries to leave, Stottlemeyer tries to stop him but Monk stares him down and orders him out of the way. Stottlemeyer, surprised, steps back and lets his friend leave. At the hotel, Monk goes to see Lola and demands to know why Jimmy wants Greenblatt dead. She tries to flirt with him but Monk pushes it and she finally agrees to tell him. She gets him close to whisper it and then admits she doesn't know. Lola starts to kiss him but realizes he's not the real DePalma and Monk starts to panic, realizing he is having a relapse in his assumed personality as "Frankie DePalma". Lenny arrives and realizes that Monk hasn't done the job yet. He tells Monk that Jimmy's going to let him do the job if Monk delays it by one more night. He tells Monk that they'll have to go out through the basement to avoid the cops out front (though Monk insists that he can take care of them) and that Jimmy insisted he has to go along. Monk has no choice but to take him along. Monk and Lenny drive over to Greenblatt's house. Monk has Lenny stay outside while he goes in to warn Greenblatt. He's too late, however: on the kitchen floor, he finds Greenblatt, who has died from a heart attack. Lenny comes in and figures Greenblatt got off easy. The next day, back in San Francisco, Natalie brings Monk in to apologize for Stottlemeyer. Stottlemeyer admits to Monk that he's proud of him, and knows that his friends has the guts to stand up for what he believes in when it comes right down to it, standing up to both Stottlemeyer and then to the mob. Stottlemeyer tells Monk that they've got nothing to arrest Jimmy - Greenblatt did indeed die from natural causes, and no money ever changed hands. However, Monk notices that Stottlemeyer has received two birthday cards from his two sons. He remembers seeing two birthday cards in Greenblatt's house which were both addressed from Greenblatt's children. Monk also remembers having heard that Stanley's son Alvin Greenblatt died over a year ago, and figures that Alvin actually faked his death. Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer, Disher and Stone meet at Greenblatt's funeral. Monk believes that Alvin must have embezzled from one of Jimmy Barlowe's casinos, and faked his death to escape the mobster's wrath. Jimmy wanted Alvin's father Stanley killed in order to lure Alvin out of hiding. When Alvin doesn't show up, they figure Jimmy grabbed him at the airport. Monk prepares to impersonate DePalma for one last time. At Alvin's house, Lenny, Jimmy, and Tommy have whipped Alvin multiple times and are trying to find out where he's hidden the money. Alvin finally tells them that he's hidden the money under some of the floorboards in his attic. Jimmy tells Alvin that he's got bad news: he believes him. Before Lenny can shoot Alvin, Monk comes in, wearing his normal suit. Once again acting as Frankie DePalma, Monk insists on fulfilling his "contract" and killing the son since he got cheated out of his opportunity to kill the father. He asks Jimmy to explain and then volunteers to kill Alvin, insisting that he's got a reputation and he'll do it for no charge, but Lenny refuses. Cold as ice, Monk stares down Lenny until Lenny hands him the gun. Monk seems prepared to shoot Alvin, but then he suddenly takes Lenny, Jimmy and Tommy hostage at gunpoint. On this signal, Natalie, Stottlemeyer, Disher and Stone and several FBI agents burst in and arrest the three captives. Before being led away, Jimmy tells Monk that he's a dead man, but Natalie smugly tells him that DePalma has actually been dead for a week now. Later, Monk calls in the deliveryman from before to look at his refrigerator, which has a broken part in it. He finds the problem and claims that unfortunately, the warranty is voided. As Natalie watches, Monk takes charge and tries to stare him down, telling the deliveryman to fix it for free. The deliveryman doesn't give in until Natalie comes over behind Monk's back to add her own stare. Natalie quickly goes back to her chair as Monk boasts that he's still "got it". Quotes Background Information and Notes *Frank DePalma's name is likely a tribute to Brian DePalma, the director of such classic gangster movies as Scarface and The Untouchables. *Tony Shalhoub has long experience playing Italian characters, including his long-time role as cab driver Antonio Scarpacci on Wings, one of the two protagonist restauranteurs in the film Big Night, and Luigi in Pixar's Cars. *The music played as Monk assumes his disguise was also used in the opening montage of New York City for "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan." *This is one of the few Monk episodes in which no murder is actually committed. *Vincent Curatola, who plays Jimmy Barlowe, is best known for playing Johnny Sack on The Sopranos. Fellow Sopranos costar Louis Lombardi (Tommy G.) was The Sopranos' ''Skip Lombardi. *This episode features 3 guest stars from ''24: Eric Balfour, Reed Diamond, and Louis Lombardi. *This episode has the shortest prologue from all episodes of Monk. *Contrary to many federal agents who appeared in the TV series across the years, Stone behaves friendly to the main characters. Category:Episodes Category:Season 8